7 days in healthcare (January 28th-February 2nd, 2025)

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Summary

The most impactful news in health this week were:

  • Biomedicine: Stem cells are used to recover damaged heart muscle fibers.
  • Global health: The exit of the USA from the WHO, a blow to the international architecture of global health.
  • International health policy: By cutting aid to foreigners and leaving the WHO, the USA is harming itself.
  • National health policy. Medical organizations are against the changes announced in the Framework Statute, and demand specific regulation for doctors.
  • Companies: Medicines investigated by AI have multiplied by nine in the last year.

Biomedicine

  • Scientists use stem cells to recover damaged heart muscle. Revascularization trials to treat cardiovascular diseases, the main cause of death globally.
  • The FDA approves a new drug to treat pain without addictive effects. The new drug Journavx blocks pain signals from the brain, but without the negative effects of opioids.

Global Health

  • The US withdrawal from the WHO is a blow to the international architecture of global health. The twelve months from the announcement to the effective withdrawal provide a window of opportunity to negotiate a profound reform of the WHO that makes it more agile, depoliticized, transparent, efficient and technically solid.
  • Health programs are closing around the world, after Trump paused foreign aid. Treatment and prevention of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria or HIV are interrupted.

International health policy

  • By cutting aid to foreigners, the US is harming itself. First, it favors the possible influence of China. Second, a responsible Administration must analyze the consequences when making the necessary review of expenses. The US will be left out of the information on the appearance of emerging diseases.
  • Upheaval in American health care. The decisions are justified by how much American health care spends, twice as much as Europe, with worse results. The intention is to change gigantic and very important bureaucratic organizations, such as the FDA, the CDC or the health research institutes (NHI). The problems of the American health system are obvious, particularly its high cost, but entering like a bull in a china shop into such a delicate fabric can do great damage. Surely, the policy of deregulation as an absolute value is not the most appropriate for a sector like health.

National Health Policy (Spain)

  • Medical unions announce demonstrations against the new Health Framework Statute. Medical organizations announce two demonstrations: one on February 10, regional, and another on February 13, in front of the Ministry of Health. It gives the impression that this Ministry did not sufficiently consider that its ideological and tendentious proposals are not the most appropriate for the sector and may start a fire in an issue that needed reforms, but was quiet.
  • The OMC defends a differentiated statutory framework for doctors. In its declaration, apart from a differentiated statute for doctors, it defends that the issues of the Statute are not only labor issues. This is the central issue, the issues of the Statute as they relate to doctors cannot be discussed only by the unions, even if the medical unions participate. They are not only labour issues, but fundamentally of professionalism, which is why the participation of professional medical organisations (colleges, scientific societies, etc.) is necessary.
  • The government increases the premium it pays for MUFACE by 41.2%, to attract ADESLAS.

Companies

  • International
    • The drugs investigated with AI have multiplied by nine in the last year. AI allows drugs to be created in less time and with greater success.
  • National
    • Esteve finalises the purchase of Takeda’s mifamurtide business, a solution for osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

Biomedicine

  • Scientists use stem cells to restore damaged heart muscle. Revascularization trials to treat cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death globally. (https://www.ft.com/content/5234d311-4671-4e02-a770-f2195e19b37e). Access to the original Nature document: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08463-0
  • FDA approves new drug to treat pain without addictive effects. New drug Journavx blocks pain signals from the brain, but without the negative effects of opioids (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/health/fda-journavx-suzetrigine-vertex-opioids.html)
  • The importance of cancer registries. There will be 35 million cancers globally by 2050, representing a 77% increase from 2022. The most affected will be low- and middle-income countries. Hence the importance of population-based registries on cancer incidence (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00189-8/fulltext)
  • A new study detects the dangers of anti-obesity drugs. The use of these drugs can increase the onset of certain diseases, including arthritis (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00173-5)
  • Psychedelic drugs in medicine. There are more and more trials of this type of medicine (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00188-6/abstract)
  • Lung cancer is already the most diagnosed cancer in the world. According to the Global Cancer Observatory, the 2.48 million new cases already exceed those of breast cancer (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/salud/20250128/cancer-pulmon-diagnosticado-mundo-punto-mortal-mujeres-espana/919658530_0.html)

Global Health

  • Opinion article by Pedro Alonso: The exit of the USA from the WHO is a blow to the international architecture of global health. The twelve months from the announcement to the effective exit provide a window of opportunity to negotiate a profound reform of the WHO that makes it more agile, depoliticized, transparent, efficient and technically sound (https://elpais.com/opinion/2025-01-29/la-salida-de-ee-uu-de-la-oms-es-un-golpe-a-la-arquitectura-internacional-de-la-salud-global.html)
  • The Trump Administration interrupts the distribution of HIV drugs in poor countries (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/health/pepfar-trump-freeze.html)
  • Health programs are closing around the world, after Trump pauses foreign aid. Treatment and prevention of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV are interrupted (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/health/trump-aid-malaria-tuberculosis-hiv.html)

International health policy

  • USA
    • The Economist editorial: By cutting aid to foreigners, the US is hurting itself. First, it is encouraging China’s potential influence. Second, a responsible administration must analyze the consequences when it makes the necessary review of expenses (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/30/by-cutting-off-assistance-to-foreigners-america-hurts-itself)
    • The abandonment of the WHO can harm the USA in a wide variety of matters, especially in information on emerging diseases (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/health/who-us-withdrawal.html)
    • An executive order by Trump alters federal surveys that asked about gender identity (https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-executive-order-would-upend-federal-surveys-ask-about-gender-identity)
    • Upheaval in American health care. The decisions are justified by how much the American health care system spends, twice as much as Europe, with worse results. The aim is to change huge and very important bureaucratic bodies, such as the FDA, the CCD or the National Health Research Institutes (NHI) (https://www.larazon.es/salud/convulsion-sanidad-norteamericana_20250202679ec4c9e95c060001842a06.html)
  • China
    • China is investigating generic drugs for safety. The campaign to use national drugs for their lower price is raising questions about their effectiveness (https://www.ft.com/content/e613e042-874d-4864-9108-bcbd26a1a39e)
  • United Kingdom and the National Health Service
    • A quarter of people in England received inadequate care on the NHS, according to a report. Poor follow-up of complaints is reported (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/27/nhs-care-report-survey-healthwatch-england-complaints)
    • Prostate cancer becomes the most common cancer in England, which already surpasses breast cancer (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jan/28/prostate-cancer-becomes-most-common-cancer-diagnosis-in-england)
  • France
    • Bayrou (French Prime Minister) tries to impose the division of the law, on the one hand palliative care, on the other hand aid to die (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/01/29/fin-de-vie-francois-bayrou-tente-d-imposer-sa-partition-aux-partisans-de-l-aide-a-mourir_6521250_3224.html)
    • Vaccination against pneumococcus, recommended for all people over 65 years of age (https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2025/01/28/infections-a-pneumocoque-la-haute-autorite-de-sante-recommande-la-vaccination-des-plus-de-65-ans_6519755_3244.html)
  • WHO
    • WHO warns that Trump puts millions of lives at stake by withdrawing aid to HIV programs (https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/salud/20250129/oms-advierte-decision-trump-retirar-ayuda-programas-vih-pone-millones-vidas-riesgo/920158141_0.html)

National health policy

  • Central administration
    • Health and Social Rights approve guaranteeing Early Care in less than 45 days of waiting. Early care for children between 0 and 6 years (https://www.consalud.es/politica/ministerio-sanidad/sanidad-derechos-sociales-garantizar-atencion-tempranamenos-45-dias-espera_154183_102.html)
  • Initiatives and news from the autonomous communities
      • The expansion of Cabueñes (Gijón). The termination of the contract threatens to delay the completion of the work indefinitely (https://www.elcomercio.es/gijon/ampliacion-cabuenes-teorico-fin-obra-rescision-contrato-20250202073701-nt.html)
      • The advanced therapies that the investment plan of Catalonia will bring. Illa presents the government’s economic objectives for the next 5 years (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/cataluna/cataluna-liga-las-terapias-avanzadas-a-su-plan-inversor-de-18-500-millones-3964)
  • Framework Statute
    • Medical unions announce mobilizations against the new Health Framework Statute. Medical organizations announce two mobilizations: one on February 10, regional, and another on February 13, in front of the Ministry of Health (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/profesion/sindicatos-medicos-anuncian-movilizaciones-borrador-estatuto-marco.html)
    • The OMC defends a differentiated statutory framework for doctors. In its statement, apart from a differentiated statute for doctors, it argues that the issues of the Statute are not only labor issues (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/medicina/la-omc-se-planta-ante-sanidad-y-apoya-un-estatuto-propio-de-los-medicos-9555)
  • MUFACE
    • The government raises the premium it pays for MUFACE by 41.2% to attract ADESLAS (https://www.expansion.com/empresas/seguros/2025/01/28/6798e3f8468aeb886c8b458c.html)
    • The government gives itself another month to resolve the health contest, given the difficulty of putting into a document what it announced (https://www.elmundo.es/economia/empresas/2025/02/01/679cbcf8fdddff222a8b4574.html)
    • MUFACE patients still cost the State 300 euros less per capita, despite the planned changes to the premium (https://www.vozpopuli.com/economia/pacientes-muface-cuestan-estado-300-euros-nueva-licitacion.html)
  • Cancer
    • Spain will detect almost 300,000 new cases of cancer in 2025, according to the report “Las cuentas del cáncer en España” published by SEOM (https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia-y-salud/salud/2025/01/27/67975d2d21efa072658b4579.html). Access to the full report: https://seom.org/images/LAS_CIFRAS_DMC2025.pdf
  • Organ donation
    • Organ donations are being considered from the private sector. The ONT intends to expand its organ procurement network to the private sector (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/secciones/ministerio-sanidad/la-ont-prepara-el-impulso-de-la-privada-en-donaciones-con-2-vias-de-trabajo-7417)

Companies

  • International news
    • A report points to the most in-demand drugs in 2025. Ozempic (NovoNordisk) and Mounjaro (Lilly) are expected to be the best-selling drugs, according to Evaluate Pharma’s 2025 Preview document (https://elglobalfarma.com/industria/informe-medicamentos-demandados-2025/)
    • Drugs investigated with AI have multiplied by nine in the last year. AI allows drugs to be created in less time and with greater success (https://www.eleconomista.es/salud/noticias/13187903/01/25/los-medicamentos-investigados-con-ia-se-multiplican-por-nueve-en-el-ultimo-ano.html
    • AstraZeneca abandons its plan to make an investment of 450 million pounds to manufacture vaccines. The decision is a blow to Prime Minister Starmer (https://www.ft.com/content/289dbaa2-f452-4aef-995c-bdbd5a79eea7)